Arne Slot is facing more criticism over the job he is doing at Liverpool and, amid more murmurings over his long-term future at Anfield, the Dutchman has rigorously defended himself against claims his side lack identity and having insisted: “My philosophy on football has not changed.”
Slot bounced into Anfield in the summer of 2024 and took the squad he inherited from Jurgen Klopp to Premier League title glory in his first season at the helm. However, his second season in charge has not gone entirely to plan and the Liverpool boss had to negotiate a seriously tricky autumn in which the Reds fell off the title pace and left his job at Anfield in some pretty significant jeopardy.
While the chances of Liverpool retaining their Premier League title now look to have slipped away, they have returned to some sort of form in recent weeks and, now up to fourth in the Premier League table, are unbeaten in nine matches across all competitions.
However, the Reds are way off their free-flowing best that saw them sweep their way to title glory last season and, after spending a whopping £440m (€505m, $600m) on new players over the summer, questions have been raised over both his long-term future at Anfield and the identity of the team he has created.
Now, in a furious response to questions on his footballing philosophy, Slot, speaking after Sunday’s topsy-turvy 2-2 draw at Fulham, has hit back at his critics.
“Yes, I would love us to create more from ball possession,” Slot told reporters after Liverpool were pegged back late by the Cottagers, despite boasting 58% possession at Craven Cottage.
“I can tell you this, my philosophy of football hasn’t changed this year compared to all the seasons I was a manager before, but we have to do it with the players that we have available.
“And I think today, 11 very good football players were on the pitch, maybe not all of them in their normal position, but in the first half, they controlled the game.
“Just before they scored, we had exactly the same chance from Cody Gakpo, which went on the other side of the post.
“And in the second half, two disallowed goals, two goals scored, a header on the bar. So things to like, but the result is, again, not what we may deserve, question mark.”
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Slot defends his record as Liverpool manager
Since that bleak run of form earlier in the season that saw Liverpool lose nine of 12 games at their nadir, the Reds have bounced back to remain unbeaten since that 4-1 home thumping by PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League on November 26.
In the games that have followed, Liverpool have enjoyed five wins and four draws – not a bad return given the pressure he was under at the time.
However, it’s perhaps not true for Slot to complain too significantly about injuries and absences.
Granted, Sunday’s 2-2 came without any of their leading attacking stars, Hugo Ekitike, Alexander Isak, or Mohamed Salah, available, but the Reds were still able to field and otherwise strong 4-2-3-1 line-up, which saw Cody Gakpo leading the line, with Florian Wirtz, Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister behind him.
Later on in his press conference, Slot went at length to underline the point that he is getting his message across to his players and that he is making a mark at Anfield.
“I didn’t change as a manager,” he stressed again.
“I would love to play with eight attackers, if that’s possible, defensively as well.
“But if those eight attackers don’t defend enough, then it’s hard to win a game of football. But we don’t have eight attackers, so that’s not possible.”
Liverpool latest: Carragher rips apart ‘lazy’ star; Real Madrid chase ‘dominant’ Reds ace
Meanwhile, Ibrahima Konate’s mistake during the 2-2 draw at Fulham has led to savage criticism from Jamie Carragher, while a second Liverpool player has also been questioned.
Before the Fulham clash,Carragher had also criticised Konate’s team-mate Milos Kerkez, with the pundit taking aim at Slot’s rotation policy with Andy Robertson.
On the transfer front, Juventus are preparing an initial loan bid to sign a Liverpool player whose exit is speculated every single window, and a report has explained why a deal is now ‘finally possible’.
In other news, a shock report out of Spain claims Real Madrid have bid €120m / £104.5m for a ‘dominant’ Liverpool star, who despite reservations, the Reds are considering selling.
Elsewhere, Liverpool are understood to have cooled their interest in signing a player Slot once famously branded a “cool customer” as the Reds pursue other targets instead and leaving Newcastle free to secure the star down to a big-money deal.